


bettin’ on the dice I’m tossin’

by helsinkibaby



Category: FBI (TV 2018)
Genre: Community: 1-million-words, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Het, Romance, Spoilers for 2x12
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:14:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22324642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: Kristen and Jubal get stuck in an elevator.
Relationships: Kristen Chazal/Jubal Valentine
Comments: 7
Kudos: 52
Collections: 1 Million Words' Weekend Challenge





	bettin’ on the dice I’m tossin’

**Author's Note:**

> For the weekend challenge, my prompt was “stuck in an elevator”

“Fancy meeting you here.”

There’s a smile in Jubal’s voice and Kristen feels an answering one coming to her own lips as she turns and meets his gaze. “It shouldn’t be that much of a surprise,” she says, reaching out to jab the elevator button. “Since we’re the last two here.” 

“Hmmm.” Jubal makes a noise in the back of his throat that makes her shiver. “Funny how that keeps happening.” 

His smile shifts to a grin when he finishes speaking and Kristen chuckles because he's right, that's been happening with alarming regularity. Not that she's complaining because she likes it when they're the only two in the place, likes talking to him, spending time with him. She likes it a little too much and she finds herself looking down so that she won’t do anything stupid like throw herself at him. That would definitely not be a good idea. They are at work. He is her boss. There's a significant age difference. She repeats the reasons to herself over and over again, just like she has done on and off since they began working together, and especially since her injury and her return to working full time in the JOC - full time beside him every day - has rekindled their close friendship, to say nothing of the quips and banter that she hadn't even realised that she was missing when she was out in the field with Stuart. 

And it's definitely rekindled her crush on him. 

The thing is? It almost seems like there's more to it than there ever was before she was injured. Sure, hes checking in with her about work as much as he ever did, but there are times she's certain that he's near her when he could just as easily be standing somewhere else. Other times, she'll look up from her computer, or she'll be walking through the JOC and she'll feel a pair of eyes on her and she'll look around and there he'll be, looking away quickly as if he's been caught doing something he shouldn't. 

Or, like now, holding her gaze until she feels a smile come to her face and heat come to her cheeks. 

She’d noticed the latter response a lot today. Maybe a little more because it had also been a long day and a frustrating one and catching his eye had been the high point of it. Still, it makes her think about things that she knows she can't have so she wants nothing more than to go home, close her front door and forget all about it. “Funny,” she says quietly and Jubal takes a step closer to her, close enough that she fancies she can feel the heat of his body, close enough that she can smell his cologne. Which, she realises quickly, should not be so distinct at this hour of the night - has he reapplied it? She glances across at him, sees him staring straight ahead, studying the numbers above the elevator door. There’s a little twitch to his lips, though, that gives the game away. 

Well, that’s new. 

Kristen knows she can’t complain too much though. After all, she reapplied her own perfume before coming out here. Lipstick too. 

Still, she can’t resist needling him just a little. After all, it's kind of what they do. “Nice cologne.”

“Hmmm?” He’s all innocence. Of course he is. “You like it?” 

She affects nonchalance. Or at least she tries to. “Not bad,” she says lightly. “I guess.”

She’s greeted by a chuckle and she knows she’s not fooling him in the slightest. He nods his head, shoulders moving in a silent laugh and she’s saved from having to make any further small talk by the arrival of the elevator. He extends a hand, wordlessly waving her in and when she’s inside, when she turns back around to face him, he’s a couple of steps behind her and he’s no longer looking at her face. 

Quite a bit south of it actually. 

She quirks an eyebrow but her smile lets him know she’s not offended and he doesn’t even blush as he follows her in, presses the button for the parking garage. Kristen closes her eyes for just a second as the elevator starts to move and she’s surprised when his voice breaks the silence. “You tired?”

There’s a slight frown on his face when she opens her eyes and her first impulse is to deny it. She is tired though, and she’d done a good job of ignoring it until the elevator doors had closed. Then it had hit her like a truck. She doesn’t want to complain though. “Long day,” is all she says to him. “Frustrating. Chasing down leads and getting nowhere.” 

Jubal tilts his head. “Is that why you’re here so late?” He pauses and she knows he’s not finished. “We have a whole team of analysts to help, you know.” 

Kristen shifts on her feet, runs her hand over the strap of her purse. “I know. But I knew what I wanted and I also knew by the time I’d explained it to someone, I’d have done it myself in the same time. So...” She lets her voice trail off, supplements it with a shrug. 

“I just don’t want to see you burning yourself out.” 

The logical, rational part of Kristen’s brain knows that he’s just being a good friend, a good boss come to that. Unfortunately, the logical and rational part of Kristen’s brain is buried under six feet of tiredness and frustration and she speaks before she thinks. “That’s easy for you to say, but I have to be twice as good as anyone else or-”

Whatever she’s about to say is cut off when the lift judders to a stop, lurching badly as it does so, pitching her forwards. At the same time, the lights cut out but Jubal apparently has fast reflexes because the next thing she knows, his arms are holding her up, her hands are making fists of his shirt, her face is buried in his neck and his cologne smells even better this close. 

Her body freezes in shock but her brain catalogues every second and it definitely doesn’t miss how his arms tighten around her for just a second, how she can feel his head dip so that it’s resting against the top of her head. She feels him inhale deeply and when he breathes out, strands of her hair tickle her ear. 

Then the emergency lights flicker on and they pull back in silent, mutual agreement, though his hand stays on her shoulder. “You okay?” he asks and all she can do is nod. 

Jubal goes straight into ASAC mode, crossing to the emergency panel and calling the number inside. Kristen can only hear his side of the conversation but it’s enough to figure out what’s happening and when he turns back to her, she’s leaning against the back wall of the elevator, hoping she’s wrong. 

She’s not. “Long story short, maintenance don’t know what’s up. They’re gonna get someone out, but it could be a while.” Kristen fights back a groan and he narrows his eyes. “You’re not claustrophobic, are you?”

“No.” Kristen purses her lips ruefully. “I was just really looking forward to getting home. You know, dinner, glass of wine, a long hot bath...” Her mouth clamps shut as she wills herself to stop talking. The faintly dazed look on Jubal’s face doesn’t help at all. 

Still, he recovers quickly. “Yeah, well, looks like you’re stuck with me.” 

She wants to say she doesn’t mind that part and she bites her tongue to keep the words back. She’s said enough. 

“Might as well get comfortable,” Jubal continues, taking off his jacket and sitting down, back against the wall, legs stretched out in front of him. He looks up at her, pats the ground beside him. “Care to pull up some floor?” 

The question manages to surprise a giggle out of her and she nods, moves so that she’s beside him and drops down so they’re sitting side by side. There’s moment of silence and then-

“What did you mean? That you have to be twice as good as everyone else?” 

Well, she’d known he wasn’t going to let it go. She’d thought that he’d leave it a little longer though. 

She tilts her head up, lets it rest against the elevator wall. “I’m a rookie agent,” she reminds him, not looking at him. A field agent who’s not in the field, a voice in the back of her head whispers, sounding like every mean girl she ever encountered back in high school. "Or I was."

“A rookie field agent, maybe,” he counters. “But one with over three years experience as the best analyst in the JOC. You’re not a typical rookie.” 

“Exactly.” She can tell he doesn’t get it. “Come on, Jubal.” She rolls her head so that she can look into his eyes, swallows hard as she realises two things. One, they’re a lot closer together than she thought. Two, his eyes are riveted on the scar on her neck. She pushes that memory away. “How many favours did you and Dana have to call in for me to get reassigned here after Quantico?” He opens his mouth and before he can deny it, she says, “Be honest.” 

Jubal presses his lips together then looks away for a second, fingers picking at a non-existent spot of fluff on the knee of his pants. “Maybe we did,” he admits. “But you were already a great analyst who we didn’t want to lose, we knew you’d be a great field agent... what, are you telling me you’d rather be sent to Piedmont, North Dakota?” 

Kristen frowns. “There’s a field office in Piedmont, North Dakota?”

Jubal’s chuckle actually relaxes her, puts her back on familiar ground. “Amazing to me that that’s what you choose to focus on.” His smile looks almost fond. 

She sighs, brings her knees up to her chest. “I just don’t want anyone to say I’m not here on merit, that I’m only here because of special favours or affirmative action...”

Again, she’s speaking without thinking and the effect on Jubal is instant, and something akin to an electric shock. “Excuse me?” His voice is loud and sharp and it makes Kristen wince. When he sees that, he holds up a hand. “Excuse me?” he says again, this time more quietly but even if Kristen didn’t know him as well as she does, she’d still be able to hear the anger under the surface. “Did someone say something like that to you? Because if they did-”

She’s shaking her head. “No. No, nothing like that.” Which is true. No-one has said anything to her face but there have been whispers, sly comments she's overheard when people didn’t think she was listening. She’s not going to tell Jubal that though. She figures she’ll just keep her head down, work hard and prove them wrong. She can do that without getting a reputation as a rat. She hopes. “I know I’m overthinking it,” she says and he doesn’t look convinced. “Seeing things that aren’t there. But this job is important to me. I don’t want to let anyone down.” The scar on her neck seems to burn uncomfortably and she finds herself blinking back tears as she lets her head fall back against the wall again. 

There’s another moment of silence. Then-

“You won’t.” 

It’s not the words that make her catch her breath though. No, that comes when she feels his fingers make contact with her neck, brush along the scar there. She turns her head to look at him, but he doesn’t drop his hand. “Kris, you’ve never let anyone down.”

It's hard to breathe suddenly, her heart pounding so fast in her chest it's a wonder he can't hear it. She wants to speak, to say something, but she's frozen, just staring at him and he doesn't look awkward, doesn't look nonplussed in the least. His gaze is steady, his hand is steady, he's steady. 

He always is. 

"Remember at the end of your first case back? When I reassigned you to the JOC?" Oh, does she remember. After the initial hurt and disappointment had worn off, after she'd cried a lot of tears, eaten a lot of ice cream and had a couple of therapy sessions, some of the words had faded into memory. Others, though, had come right to the fore. Lingered in her thoughts, both waking and sleeping and, in her sleeping moments, had intensified, lengthened almost, taking on a life of their own, lending themselves to scenarios that had surely never happened. 

"I need you." 

The words echo around the elevator and, for a moment, she's sure she's fallen asleep somewhere, that she's going to wake up any second now - if patterns hold, probably right around the time he goes to kiss her - and she'll be at home in her apartment or asleep at her desk and she's going to be incredibly embarrassed and ashamed to be having yet another dream about her boss. 

But his fingers are warm against her skin, his eyes warm as they hold hers and his cologne has never smelled so good any other time that this has happened. 

"And I know... I shouldn't be telling you this, I know it's a bad idea and you can tell me to go to hell and I won't blame you in the slightest. But I do. Need you. And I'm not just talking about the job and the JOC. It's more than that." He pauses, his thumb sweeping up and down her neck. "I didn't mean to make you cry."

He says it with a self deprecating chuckle and she lifts her right hand to her face in some surprise. Sure enough, there are tears there and she wipes them away impatiently. "You didn't. Not really." She pauses, tilts her head but to the left, so that she's leaning into him. He takes the hint - not that Jubal, a tactile person at the best of times, needs an excuse to touch anyone - and loops his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him. Her left hand lands on his right knee as she lets her head fall against his chest, lets her eyes close and just breathes. 

It's as good as she's felt in weeks, she realises, and when his hand reaches up, begins to play with her hair, it feels even better. 

"So, tears aside..." She smiles without opening her eyes. It wouldn't be Jubal if he didn't break the silence. "I take it that I'm not about to get hit with a harassment complaint? Or, y'know, just hit?" 

Kristen chuckles. "I'm not going to hit you." She tilts her head up without lifting it, then opens her eyes. It's a shock to see how close his face is to hers, but a welcome one. His eyes flicker down to land on her lips, then back up to her eyes and twin spots of colour burn high on his cheeks. 

"Then why do I feel like I’ve taken a two by four to the head?" His lips come closer to hers and his voice, so loud in the JOC, is a bare whisper, so low and so quiet that even as close as they are, she has to strain to hear it. 

"Maybe I should kiss you better," she suggests, her voice also low, her right hand coming up to rest on his shoulder and she doesn't miss how his lips quirk up in a quick smile. 

"Maybe you should." 

He’s very still all of a sudden and she’s hit not with a two by four, but with a sudden flash of insight. All the reasons she’s ever given herself for why something like this categorically could never happen? He’s thought of them too. But he’s the one who’s the older man, he’s the one who’s the boss. He’s the one with all the power here and if there’s a chance, even the slightest chance that he could be forcing her into anything, he’s not going to go there. So he’s leaving it up to her to make, not the first move, because they’ve been heading here for a while, but the final move, the one that’s going to put them on the path of no return. 

She’s okay with that. 

She brushes her lips across his, intending the kiss to be gentle. The second she makes contact though, everything changes. Electricity courses through her body and without conscious thought she deepens the kiss, opening her mouth to his, sliding her hand up so that it can tangle in the hair at the nape of his neck. Over the roaring in her ears, she hears him moan and it makes her smile, makes her shift slightly, the better to press her body against his, his right hand going to the back of her head, holding her in place, his left sliding down to rest on her hip, pushing its way underneath her jacket and finding warm skin underneath her shirt. 

She moans, then gasps as the earth moves. 

Not a euphemism. The elevator actually lurches before it begins to move, up at first, then slowly resumes its downwards trajectory towards the parking garage. 

“Guess they fixed it.” Jubal’s hair is mussed, his eyes dark, pupils blown wide and Kristen bites her lip, looks down even as she smoothes down her own hair. To her surprise, she hears Jubal inhale sharply and he reaches out, cups her chin in his hand and runs his thumb along her bottom lip. “Do you have any idea,” he asks, “what that does to me?” 

From the look in his eyes, she has a damn good idea and she’d never known that until now. “I do that a lot,” she says, thinking out loud and his chuckle can only be described as long suffering. 

“Trust me,” he says, “I know,” 

The elevator dings as it reaches the ground and Jubal drops his hand before the doors open. She misses the warmth of his touch immediately but it’s a little easier as he walks her to her car, stands beside her driver’s side door and touches the back of her hand with his index finger. He looks almost shy and, once again, she knows the ball is in her court. 

“I’d say your place or mine,” she says, “but mine is closer.” 

Jubal doesn’t hesitate. “I’ll meet you there,” 

She can see his headlights in her rear view mirror all the way home and it makes her smile, makes her think that bad as the day was, it’s ending pretty well. 

For the first time in weeks, she can’t wait to see what tomorrow is going to bring. 

But first?

She's going to enjoy tonight.


End file.
